Rankings
There are many different higher education rankings. Some of them are subject specific, i.e. they focus on individual disciplines, for instance business administration or physics. Other rankings are whole-university rankings that compare entire universities, regardless of their disciplinary focus. Many rankings list the top 50, 100, or 1,000 institutions according to the criteria applied, while others rank the universities covered in groups, for instance A-E, 1-3, or top, middle, and bottom groups.
Some rankings focus exclusively on academic publications, while others look specifically at criteria such as graduates’ job success rates. Many use a mix of indicators covering a range of different areas and assessment methods: student surveys on teaching quality, statistics provided by the universities, e.g. on faculty numbers, and publication data obtained from international databases.
The wide variety of different approaches clearly shows that there is no single “most important” ranking, and no single “correct” method for comparing and ranking universities. Higher education rankings are by necessity selective in the perspective they adopt, and they can only show part of the picture. In a way, they are like a kaleidoscope: Just a little twist in one direction or the other can completely change what you see. In this sense, rankings paint a picture that is never the full truth, but never completely wrong either.
WU is listed in a large number of different rankings. We are pleased with our good ranking results, but we also know that it is necessary to keep a critical eye on the various rankings and indicators and on how the different ranking providers develop their respective approaches. In the following you find an overview of WU’s current positions in major rankings:
Economist Ranking
Masters in Management 2019 Ranking
WU Master’s in International Management placed 5th out of 40 programs (2nd place in the German-speaking area)
Financial Times Ranking
Masters in Management Ranking 2024
WU Master’s in International Management placed 20th out of 100 programs (4th place in the German-speaking area)
European Business School Ranking 2023
WU placed 41st of 90 European schools ranked
Executive MBA Ranking 2023
The Executive MBA program offered by the WU Executive Academy placed 45th out of the top 100 executive MBA programs in the world
Handelsblatt/Wirtschaftswoche Ranking
2022 Business Administration Ranking (BWL 2022): 3rd place
2023 Economics Ranking (VWL 2023): 9th place
QS Rankings
QS World University Ranking by Subject 2024
Overall Ranking Social Sciences & Management: 167 of 550
in Business & Management Studies: 57 of 626
in Accounting & Finance: 101-150 of 351
Economics & Econometrics: 91 of 560
Computer Sciences & Information Systems: group 551-600 of 722
Law & Legal Studies: group 251 - 300 of 352
QS Program Rankings
Masters in Finance 2025: 20 out of 222
Masters in Management 2025: 18 out of 206
Masters in Marketing 2025: 12 out of 140
Masters in Supply Chain Management 2025: 2 out of 85
Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities in
Business Administration 2024
WU placed 37th
Economics 2024
WU placed among the top 76-100 universities
Management 2024
WU placed among the top 101-150 universities
Finance 2024
WU placed among the top 151-200 universities
Public Administration 2024
WU placed among the top 76-100 universities
Format Uni-Ranking 2014
WU’s programs in International Business Administration (bachelor’s level) and Business Law (bachelor’s and master’s levels): 2nd place
WU’s program in Business Administration (bachelor’s level): 8th place
WU occupies 7 out of a total of 30 places